As arrivals and shipments both fell, iron ore inventory at 35 ports dropped slightly

As of June 14, iron ore inventories across the 35 Chinese ports tracked by SMM totalled 145.23 million mt, down 220,000 mt WoW but up 20.58 million mt YoY. Daily iron ore port clearance volume was 2.995 million mt, down 33,000 mt MoM but up 18,000 mt YoY.

According to the SMM survey, there was a large number of ships waiting to unload this week, and port arrivals showed a slight downward trend. In terms of port clearance volume, as profits remained under pressure, steel mills made purchases as needed, with weak procurement enthusiasm. They kept raw material inventory at a low level, with some maintaining about one week of inventory. Therefore, iron ore port clearance volume showed a downward trend.

Looking ahead to next week, port arrivals are expected to return to normal levels. According to the SMM survey, as pig iron output still has an upward trend, port clearance volume is expected to inch higher. However, iron ore inventories at 35 ports are expected to increase again.